Blackout
by Galore23
Summary: Farkle and Zay trick Maya, Riley, and Lucas into meeting at Topanga's to hang out as a group. Little do they know that it is an elaborate scheme to get the three of them to talk about how they feel. Locked in the cafe together, the three friends do whatever they can to avoid this. However, when a storm knocks out the power lines and causes a blackout, they might have no choice.
1. Thunder, Lightning, Lights Out

**Title:** Blackout

 **Ship** : Rucas

 **Point of View** : Riley's

Summary: (Right before graduation/legacy) After everything that has happened in the past few months or so Lucas, Riley, and Maya are at a standstill in their relationships with one another. It is the day before graduation and Farkle and Zay have tricked Lucas, Riley, and Maya into meeting at Topanga's in an elaborate scheme to get them to settle their feelings for one another. However, things go awry when a storm knocks out the power lines and causes a blackout, leaving the three friends trapped with nowhere to go and nothing to do but talk about how they feel. Will they make it out in time for graduation? Will they make it out without any hurt feelings or scarred friendships? Or will the darkness cause more harm than good for these friends?

Note: I wrote this before Girl Meets the New Year, so a few things might not work with how that episode unfolded, but that's okay we're just gonna go with it.

* * *

Part 1: Thunder, Lightning, Lights Out

We sat in silence staring at one another, analyzing each other's faces intently as if the answers were hidden somewhere beneath the surface. This was different than the way we stared at each other a few months ago surrounded by the Texas night sky and the crackling fire. It was so uncomfortable that I actually squirmed in the large plush chair I was sitting in, as if it would help me escape somehow.

"I can't believe they did this," Maya complained, shifting in her seat and picking at a piece of fabric on her jacket.

"Oh I can. This is classic Zay," Lucas replied. I wonder if Zay had done something like this when they lived in Texas together. Were there other friends he had to trap together in a room to get them to talk about their feelings? Other girls like Maya? Like me?

"Farkle too. He'd do anything if it meant keeping our friendship the way it was before... all of this," I pointed out, tracing patterns on the fabric of the chair with my fingers. Swirls, stripes, hearts, a black hole I could use to fall through to escape this torture.

"Did Farkle really convince your parents to lock us in here? Isn't this breaking some kind of law? Isn't this child endangerment?" Maya raged, standing up and looking around for an escape route or something to smash. I wasn't sure which one.

"Relax Maya, I have a key to the backdoor. We can leave any time we want," I said calmly, not looking her in the eye.

"Then what are we still doing here? Let's blow this joint!" Maya enthused, heading for the backdoor.

Just then the room was filled with the sound of thunder so loud that it made me jump about six feet in the air. I bit my lip and looked outside to see rain coming down harder than I had ever seen it.

"Whoa there Riley, you okay?" Lucas asked, concern written all over his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine Lucas. It just took me by surprise I guess. I didn't know a little light summer rain could turn into something this intense," I replied, my voice wavering only slightly.

I looked up at Maya. She was staring at us, her brow furrowed and her eyes curious. I wish I could read her mind sometimes. I never knew what she was thinking anymore. I never knew how she was feeling.

"It used to get like this in Texas sometimes. Storms so bad that we had to spend the night in the barn keeping the horses calm. They were spooked so easily, it made me realize that they're not so different from how people are with their own fears. Their own feelings even," Lucas confided, remembering his life before New York.

"How did you get them calm?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"We talked to them. Assured them that the storm would pass soon and everything would be okay," Lucas admitted, looking at me and smiling slightly.

"How great for you and the horses Huckleberry, but we need to get out of here before the storm gets too bad. Let's go guys," Maya called from across the room.

"I don't think so Maya. It's already pouring and I don't think it's going to let up anytime soon," Lucas interjected, getting up to look out the window.

"Lucas is right. We should stay here until the storm clears up. I'm going to text my dad to tell him what's happening," I agreed, pulling out my phone.

"Farkle and Zay are way to good at this," Maya complained, a bitter tone to her voice.

"Maya, I don't think they summoned a thunderstorm to keep us trapped in here," I countered as I typed out a message to my dad on my phone.

"Oh, don't underestimate them. They are 100% capable of this kind of scheme," Maya proclaimed, moving away from the backdoor and coming to sit at the counter.

"Well, regardless of if they did a rain dance, summoned the rain gods, or willed it to happen by simply thinking it, it's happening, so we might as well get comfortable," Lucas responded, peeking out the window one last time before coming to sit back on one of the chairs in the center of the room.

Silence again. Except this time the sound of the rain pounding hard against the roof served as therapeutic background noise. A few minutes passed as we listened to the rain pitter-patter on the roof. Someone needed to say something. Something needed to happen. I took a deep breath, preparing myself to say something, anything, when a voice that wasn't mine broke the silence.

"Why did you lie about how you felt?"

As if a force in the universe willed it to happen, Topanga's got even quieter than before, the world went still, and we were engulfed in darkness. There was no light inside the room or outside on the street. The storm had caused a blackout and we were in the middle of it.

"Well that can't be a good sign," the voice that I now identified as Maya's, said.

And it wasn't. Whatever was about to happen, I was terrified. Of the storm, of the darkness, of these feelings. Of growing up. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew that whatever it was, it was happening now. And I was going into it completely blind.


	2. Tell Me How You Really Feel

Blackout

Part 2: Tell Me How You Really Feel

"There should be some candles and flashlights behind the counter for emergencies," I told Lucas as he and I searched for any kind of light source that would be of any use in this darkness.

"Or we could take advantage of 21st century technology and use the flashlights on our phones," Maya chimed in. She was oddly calm about this whole thing. Instead of scrambling for ways for us to see again, she was perfectly content living in the dark.

"It also drains the battery. What if we have an emergency? What if aliens come down from their home planets and try to abduct us?" I asked, frantically searching through shelves for anything that might give us light.

"Riles. You watched the scifi channel before bed again didn't you?" Maya asked, giving me a knowing look.

The guilt on my face broke through and I quickly turned away.

"Riley! You said you wouldn't watch it anymore after that terrifying movie about the killer robot merm-"

"You promised you wouldn't mention that ever again!" I yelled, fake offended.

"The killer robot what?" Lucas chimed in from behind the counter. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was smiling.

"Merm-" Maya began again.

"Ring power! I interjected quickly, cutting Maya off.

"Boo!" Maya yelled back. I could imagine the pout on her face even if I could not see it.

"It's okay, I think I can guess," Lucas responded as he opened and closed cabinets and drawers behind the counter.

After rummaging through junk and old silverware for a few minutes, Lucas and I came back with six candles, two flashlights, and a lighter. We lit the candles, spread them throughout the room, and set the flashlights on the coffee table. The candles made the room and everything in it glow in this dim golden light that made me feel a little sad. I couldn't tell you exactly why it made me feel this way, but it did. And I didn't like it.

"This is insane," Maya muttered under her breath, shaking her head and crossing one leg over the other as she sat on one of the chairs in the middle of the room.

"Agreed," I concurred, sitting on the floor and scooting up close so that my face was illuminated by the light from the flickering candle.

"You know, for what it's worth, I'm glad that if I have to be trapped in a bakery during a blackout it's with you two," Lucas proclaimed, smiling at both of us from the chair next to Maya.

Maya and I looked at each other, brows furrowed, eyes concerned. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say under the circumstances. This whole situation was confusing and messy and it didn't have to be. Not if Maya was honest with me about her feelings for Lucas. Not if she was honest with me about her realization that she believed I viewed Lucas as a brother... And not if I was honest with her about my own realization that Lucas was most definitely not like my brother. I took a deep breath.

"Maya, why didn't you tell me the truth? About liking Lucas? About you thinking I liked Lucas as a brother? About all of it?" I blurted out all at once, hoping that I made sense.

"Riles, we've been over this. I was trying to spare your feelings. I was trying to be your best friend," she declared, not looking me in the eyes.

"I don't buy that. Being my best friend means telling me the truth even when it's hard. Especially when it's hard. Keeping me in the dark only leads to more darkness, not light," I admitted. I couldn't believe I was telling her all of this. And I couldn't help but think of myself of being a hypocrite. I technically did the exact same thing to her.

Maya looked at me for a few seconds as if she was weighing the consequences of telling me what she was about to tell me.

"I guess... I guess I wasn't entirely sure what I was feeling. I liked him, I know that I did. But I think I was confused about _how_ I liked him. And I think that I transferred my own confusion over to how you felt about him. And then it all just got... complicated," Maya explained, averting her gaze to look down at her hands.

"Can I say something?" Lucas chimed in, looking at us expectantly.

"No," Maya and I snapped back in unison.

"So you're saying that you don't think I like Lucas as a brother?" I asked.

"No. No I don't. I think I got confused because of how alike you are. You guys can talk about anything and you both care so much about fixing everything and being there for your friends. It seemed like two people couldn't be that much alike and still have feelings for each other. But I know now that things aren't always so black and white like that," Maya clarified. She moved from her chair to sit next to me on the floor. I looked up at her, my best friend. My world had gotten so confusing, so uncertain so fast, that I didn't know what was real or true anymore. But I knew now, without a shadow of a doubt, that our friendship was the truest thing I would ever know.

"You should've talked to me," I asserted, looking her directly in the eyes.

"I know," she agreed, smiling sadly. "But you should have said something too."

"I know," I muttered.

Lucas rose from his chair to sit on the floor directly in front of Maya and me. I knew that this moment would change everything. Lucas was finally going to admit his feelings and I had no idea for whom they were going to be for. I held my breath and looked up at him.

"It's my turn to talk and I don't want any interruptions. That means no one gets up, no one talks but me, and everyone listens. Got it?" Lucas asked firmly.

Maya and I nodded, neither of us breathing.

"Riley, Maya... You are two of the most amazing people I've ever met. Your friendship is the strongest I've seen of anyone's and I admire that more than anything. I know that I could never come between you two because your friendship is too strong for that. It takes more than some boy to tear you two apart. But I also know that this whole situation might have been a little easier if I would have just explained to the both of you what I was feeling." Lucas took a breath, closed his eyes for a second, and continued.

"Maya, from the first moment I met you, I was terrified of you. I try not to let it show... But you scare me. Your light burns so bright and your fire so fierce , that I never know what you're going to do next. I love our banter and I love having you in my life. Deny it all you want, but we're friends and I would do anything for you," Lucas declared.

Maya looked up at him, as if she had just realized something. She had this look on her face. The look of clarity, like everything was finally making sense. She was moving out of the darkness and into the light. I, however, was still very much surrounded by dark shadows and a cloudy haze of black.

"Riley," Lucas started to say, but then paused. The storm was starting to let up. The thunder and lighting had stopped and I was concentrating on the pitter-patter of the rain. "Riley... I'm not really sure what to say to you," Lucas admitted, looking down and shaking his head.

My heart sank. "It's okay Lucas, you don't have to say anything," I said, defeated. "Maybe it's better that you don't say anything anyway. Maybe that makes things easier."

"No, Riley, it's just that-" Lucas started, but I cut him off.

"Lucas, really. Just don't say anything." I rose from the floor and before I could even think about what I was doing, I headed for the backdoor. I removed the key from my jacket pocket, unlocked the door, and ran out into the rain. I didn't care if I was going to get soaked. I didn't care is I was probably going to get pneumonia. I just needed to get out of there.

Lucas didn't have anything to say to me. Our friendship, the thing I was trying to protect by making us brother and sister, was crumbling because we tried to force what wasn't working. Tears welled up in my eyes, rain was soaking my clothes, and my hair was sticking to my face. I wanted to go home, but I couldn't. The summer rain that turned into a storm, the fire that brought truth and light to the darkness, it was all too much. I just wanted to sleep. I wanted this to be over. But it wasn't. Not even close.


	3. When It Rains, It Pours

Blackout

Part 3: When It Rains, It Pours

"Riley!" I heard Lucas yell from behind me.

"Lucas go back inside!" I begged, trying to get as far away from him as I could in the back alley behind Topanga's.

"Riley, I need you to listen!" he shouted over the roar of the rain.

"I thought you didn't have anything to say to me! Any time our feelings get involved we never have anything to say! We're great at talking to each other until our emotions are thrown into the mix! That can't be a good thing!" I protested, my voice straining to be heard over the rain.

"I think it's the opposite! I think it's a really good thing. It means we care so much about each other that we don't want to ruin what we have by saying the wrong thing. We're nervous around each other because we like each other. Not like siblings. Not as just friends. But truly like each other. And that't really scary, but it's important that it's scary because that means it's real," Lucas declared, taking a deep breath and blinking away the raindrops from his eyes. "I like you Riley Matthews. And I hope you still feel that way about me too." He stepped closer like he was going to touch my hand, but I stepped back quickly.

"But Maya-" I started to interject, but I was interrupted.

"But Maya realized something just now," Maya called from the doorway. Lucas and I turned to face her, my heart beating in my chest. "I realized that the reason I was worried about Lucas when he was riding the bull in the rodeo, that the reason I love to make fun of him, is because he's my friend. And a really good one at that. I'm not used to letting people in all the time. My father kind of messed that up for me. But once I realized Lucas was here to stay, that he was a real friend who I could count on a trust, I started to care about him. And I think I confused those feelings for romantic ones because that was the easier way to go in my mind. And maybe I was trying to forget about a certain uncle of yours. But I shouldn't have done that because that's not how things really are. So I know now that I do like you Lucas," Maya explained, walking a few steps forward so that she was immediately covered in rain. "But as one of my best friends."

We were all dripping wet, staring at one another, waiting with bated breath to hear what was going to happen next.

"I'm really glad to hear you say that... Because I feel the same way," Lucas admitted. "I think you're amazing Maya. You're an incredibly talented artist, you're funny, smart, unfailingly loyal. And yes, you _are_ the blonde beauty. But..." Lucas trailed off, as if he couldn't find the right words to finish that sentence.

"But I'm not Riley Matthews," Maya finished for him. My heart lurched in my throat. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.

"No, that's not what I was going to say!" Lucas clarified quickly. "You're not Riley, but that's what I like about both of you so much. You're different as night and day, but you compliment each other so well. I value our friendship Maya. I love all of our teasing and fighting-" Lucas sputtered out quickly, trying hard to explain himself.

"No, I know Lucas. I didn't say that to sound bitter or upset. I genuinely meant; I'm not Riley Matthews," Maya explained. "Riley Matthews, the girl you've had a crush on since that first day on the subway. The girl you rode around school on a white horse with. The girl you smile at every time she does something goofy or simply walks into a room. The girl whose family you asked permission to go out on a date with," Maya smiled. "It's been clear from the beginning and that's why you can't see me as anything more than a good friend. Because I'm not the girl you like. And that's okay. That's amazing actually! Because she's amazing and I love her. So if you break her heart in any way, shape, or form Huckleberry I will break your face so hard," Maya laughed to herself and smiled even wider.

Maya turned and walked over to stand in front of me. She grabbed my hands, pulled me into a hug, and squeezed me tight.

"Riley, listen to me carefully. Lucas is my friend, you're my best friend, and I want you both to be happy," she asserted, looking me straight in the eyes.

"But you deserve to be happy too Maya!" I argued.

"Oh Riley, don't you get it? You said it in Texas. It's you and me forever. That's what makes me happy. I have you, my mom, Farkle and Zay, your parents, Shawn, my art, and yes, I have Lucas too. Making fun of him makes me so happy," she giggled and I laughed too, still a little unsure. "I don't need a boy to make me happy. I'm not that kind of girl. When it happens, it'll happen, and yeah, I'll probably be happy about it. But it won't define my happiness. Okay?" she asked, rubbing my shoulders up and down.

I had it all wrong. I thought that if I set aside my feelings for Lucas and gave Maya the push she needed to be with him, everything would fix itself and Maya would find the happiness she deserved. But I needed to stop seeing her as a victim, as some project or broken doll that I needed to fix in order for her to feel whole again. Maya was the strongest person I knew and I need to start treating her that way.

"Okay," I whispered, nodding.

Maya smiled that brilliant smile of hers.

"Thunder," she began, holding out her hand, showing me her friendship ring.

""Lightning," I continued, touching my ring to hers.

"To infinity."

"And beyond," I went on.

"To graduation."

"And the rest of our lives together," I finished, smiling wider than I have in a long time.

The rain was finally starting to let up now. I took her hand in mine and started heading back towards Topanga's back entrance, but Maya stopped to look back at Lucas.

"Riley, you two should talk," Maya insisted.

"Are you sure?" I asked tentatively.

"He needs someone to tell that 'I delivered a baby horse' story to," Maya teased, playfully nudging me in the side.

I smiled widely. "I love that story," I admitted, the enthusiasm in my voice evident.

"I know you do honey. Now go talk to him."

Maya let go of my hand and went inside, leaving me alone with Lucas. The rain was only lightly falling on our shoulders now, but I didn't mind it anymore. Lucas and I _were_ like a light summer rain after all. It was almost as if it was meant to happen this way.

"Hi," I said, moving the wet hair plastered to my face out of the way with my index finger.

"Hey," Lucas replied, taking a few steps closer to me.

"What now?" I asked, feeling very vulnerable and unsure.

Lucas didn't respond. Instead he smiled and with two long strides, he closed to space between us. Taking my face in his hands like I did on our first date, he stroked his thumb back and forth across my cheek, and kissed me as if it was the most natural thing he could have done. I let my eyes stay closed for a few second. Lucas told me once that his moment would be hist moment and now that it had happened, I knew that nothing would be the same again.

"We go figure out what happens next together," Lucas replied, taking my hand and squeezing it lightly.

Hand in hand, we walked into my mother's bakery. I still wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but I knew one thing was for certain. My father was right. People do change people and one thing leads to another and growth happens when we're not even looking. I still had a lot to learn about life and friendship and maybe even love, but I was happy to face all that was to come with Maya, Farkle, Zay, and Lucas. And I was happy that my parents were going to be there every step of the way. Sure, it was my world now, but that didn't mean I had to face it alone.


End file.
